Chapter 5 Don’t Go Dragon Me Down #2
The whole thing feels strange to me. The Dragon Court has always been the most stable of the courts—at least in my lifetime.
The one without intrigue. The one where everything works as it should.
To have that be on the brink of toppling now, just because Nuri gave her dragon heart to me…
It feels wrong. Not to mention makes me feel guilty as hell.
Especially since I can’t get used to being referred to as part of the dragon Royal Family—to be grouped with Nuri and Aiden as part of their clan. Even with Nuri’s heart beating in my chest, it feels odd to me. Very, very odd.
Everything here does, with the exception of being with Flint. Because that feels right, more right than anything in my life ever has. Even being mated to Grace.
From the first time we met at boarding school in seventh grade, he’s felt like mine.
Not the way we are now—I didn’t know how I felt about myself, let alone anyone else back then—but still.
He’s always been my person, always been the one I turn to when I need help and the one I drop everything for when he needs it.
Except for that awful time when Damien and Hudson fucked everything up for everyone, that is.
“You look completely weirded out by what I just said.” Eden’s face closes up at the observation, her jaw locking and her lips pressing together in a thin, impatient line as she leans forward.
“Tell me you aren’t just fucking around with Flint.
Tell me you’re actually in this. Because you’ve already broken his heart once.
I forgave you for that shit because of extenuating circumstances—”
“By extenuating circumstances you mean my being falsely mated to someone else by god magic?” I ask, just to remind her—and myself—that I’m no more to blame for this than anyone else.
Judging by the look she shoots me, she buys that about as much as I do.
“Obviously,” she hisses. “But if you aren’t in this, if you plan on walking away again, you’re better off leaving right now.
Because he doesn’t deserve to get more attached to you just to have you walk away.
And because I swear to every god out there that if you hurt my best friend again, what just happened with that bo staff will feel like a damn kiss. ”
“I don’t respond well to threats,” I growl right back, making sure to flash a little fang. Eden’s words hit way too close to home for me to take them without a fight.
She doesn’t look impressed. “That’s not a promise that you won’t hurt him or leave him.”
“I don’t want to hurt him.” It’s the truest thing I’ve ever said.
“So don’t. It’s not that fucking complicated. Unless you’re still carrying a torch for Grace, that is.” As she says the last, her face goes from annoyed to absolutely blank. It’s definitely the more dangerous expression of the two.
I’m pretty sure it means she’s plotting not just my death but how to dispose of the body before she gets caught. To be fair, it’s pretty easy. Just feed me human blood without me knowing and wait until the next morning… Poof.
“Grace is my brother’s mate,” I snarl. “I would never—”
“That’s just logistics. It doesn’t tell me anything about how you feel.”
“How I feel is none of your fucking business,” I snarl as the entire training center—the entire building—starts to shake. This time I don’t try to stop it, not because I want to make a point but because my emotions have finally slipped the very tight grip I keep on them.
All of the guilt, the confusion, the betrayal, the hurt, the rage I’ve been ignoring for weeks come bubbling up to the surface, and there’s nothing I can do about it.
The last thing I ever want to do is hurt Flint—the last thing I’ve ever wanted to do is hurt the people I care about. But good intentions don’t mean shit.
Sharp crackles and pops fill the air, and I glance around to see that the mirror that runs the length of one of the training center’s walls is starting to break. I take a deep breath as tiny, black spiderwebs start spreading in from the edges, try to pull everything back inside me.
But it’s too much. It’s always been too much, and I’ve finally lost my grip. I can feel the emotions seeping through my fingertips, can see every single person I’ve failed.
Hudson, who I tried so hard to kill because it was easier than trying to understand him.
Xavier, who died because I was too arrogant to listen to Grace, too certain that I knew my brother better than she ever could.
Luca, who was so determined to fight until he couldn’t.
Nuri, who gave her dragon’s heart for me and is even now paying the consequences.
All the Katmere students who died in my father’s dungeon, collateral damage to his sociopathy.
Liam, who betrayed us because he lost faith in what we were trying to do.
Rafael and Byron, who followed me because they believed in me and because they believed me.
The people on the battlefield who fell under the weapons of my father and his army.
Mekhi, who I can’t help and no one can cure from slowly dying from shadow poison.
Grace, who wanted my trust more than she needed my protection.
And Flint—always Flint—who I’ve loved since I was a kid and who I’ve failed again and again and—
Eden screams as the mirror shatters, sending shards of broken glass flying in all directions.